What makes Pittsburgh "Hockey Tahn"? by @Chicksdighockey

If you told the citizens of Pittsburgh, Pa in the 1970’s
that the Steel City would eventually become a hockey town they may not have
believed you. Western Pennsylvania has a legendary reputation for being
football-crazed. There was a time when the Steelers were the only thing other
than making steel that the city had to be proud of. The region was full of hard
working people who loved to brag about their Steel Curtain.

Pittsburgh does have a hockey history. It was home to the
first professional hockey league anywhere in the world, the Western
Pennsylvania Hockey League, which by 1902 was luring players from Canada, where
professionalism was prohibited. And it is where the United States Olympic
hockey team was born in 1920, when Roy Schooley, a Canadian who stayed in
Pittsburgh, put together an 11-player squad that won silver at the Antwerp
Games, in the sport’s Olympic debut.

Hockey in Pittsburgh was dying in 2003. The Penguins
organization was bankrupt and the team was struggling. Every good Pittsburgher
knows the rest of that story about how Mario Lemieux came to the rescue. It’s a
tale not unlike like the Legend of Paul Bunyan; it gets more fantastical every
time it’s told.

It’s the story of hockey great, Mario Lemieux who conquered cancer only to be failed by back pain so terrible he had to have help tying his
skates. Lemieux retired from the game he loved in 1997 (the first time) The
mismanaged Penguins at the time were so far in debt that they were unable to
pay star players and asked them to defer their salary to keep the team afloat. Years
of deferred salaries, adding up to $32.5 million, had made him the Penguins'
largest creditor. Lemieux stepped in
with an unusual proposal to buy the team. He proposed to convert $20 million of
his deferred salary into equity, enough to give him controlling interest. He
also promised to keep the team in Pittsburgh.

Since that time, hockey in Pittsburgh under the watchful eye
of Lemieux and company, has grown by leaps and bounds. During the 2004-2005
lockout the Penguins received a gift -- The first overall draft pick. Wisely,
they chose Sidney Crosby. His story is another chapter full of twists and turns
in the story of hockey in Pittsburgh. Crosby brought the eyes of the hockey
world to southwestern Pa. His success did more than generate new fans and sell
out every game for the last six years, Crosby and the Penguins are committed to
growing hockey in the region.

Crosby and the Pens sponsor Sidney Crosby’s Little Penguins.
One thousand kids, aged 4 to 8, who every year for the past four years have
received full hockey equipment paid for by the Pittsburgh Penguins, their
25-year-old captain and several sponsors. It was a way to both give back to the
community and grow their fan base. (Mirtle) The team also supplies free sticks
to every elementary school in the region and has begun constructing ball hockey
facilities.

“This is the new, Sidney Crosby, generation,” Penguins
president David Morehouse told James Mirtle, “These are the kids that started
playing when we came out of the last (’05) lockout, and some of those kids got
the free equipment. It was funny. After the world juniors [in which four
Pittsburgh products contributed to a gold medal for the United States] Sid made
a joke that he’s going to have to think about continuing to provide free
equipment down here as he may be “sabotaging” Canada’s future.”

The same region of Pa that turned out NFL greats Joe Montana,
Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas and Dan Marino has turned out RJ Umberger, Dylan
Reese and Ryan Malone. They’ve bred up and comers like John Gibson, J.T.
Miller, Riley Barber, Vincent Trocheck and Calder Cup finalist Brandon Saad.
Robert Morris is making a name in NCAA hockey and hosted the Frozen Four this
year at Consol Energy Center. All of this serves as evidence of hockey's
strengthening foothold in western Pennsylvania, one that could one day soon
rival the hotbeds in places like Detroit and Minnesota.

Courtesy of Dave Sandford

What makes Pittsburgh a hockey town? Mario Lemieux did when
he invested his life in the city. Sidney Crosby did when he invested his time,
talent and vision in the youth of the region. The investors in Consol Energy
Center did when they believed in the Penguins enough to build a bright,
beautiful barn. Most of all, the people of Pittsburgh made it a hockey town
with their support and commitment since the ’05 lockout and into the future.

What makes Pittsburgh a hockey town? The Penguins set up a
16-by-9-foot high-resolution LED video board outside of Consol Energy Center on
which fans can watch all of the team's playoff games from the lot where “The
Igloo” used to sit. If you’re from The ‘Burgh you know what I mean when I say, “Hey!
Yinze gonna watch the game dahn at Mario’s TV?”

Detroit can keep the moniker “Hockey Town”……it’s pronounced
‘Tahn’ anyway and Pittsburgh is the one and only “Hockey Tahn”